A thousand days have passed since I had the news that Rich had died.
A thousand days ago, I woke up and I remembered the news the Police had brought the day before.
A thousand days where I have thought about him every day, missed him, loved him.
A thousand days where my child has, at some point every day, had that lost look in his eyes. It comes less often now, and for a shorter time, and that is what having intervention at the right time can do for a child.
In a way, I can't get my head around it all still. There are moments where I expect him to walk in the door, to drop his bag in the middle of the floor for me to fall over. There are moments when I expect to hear his voice telling me that the coffee fairies have been, or that there is a hole in his cup, or that he is the worlds best taste tester.
Weirdly these days, I expect him to be a part of the life I have with J though. Not to replace J, nothing could do that, but to be here. We all still talk about him a lot, he's been on all our minds whilst I've been moving the bedrooms because he built that bed for the AC, and part of my mind can still see him doing that, still hear him chuntering on to the AC about it. He is a part of our every day lives and I have to say how much I love J for accepting that, and helping AC talk about it and cry if he wants to and all that kind of thing. He supports us both in so many ways.
Has time been a great healer? In lots of physical ways, yes. 1000 days ago, and for some time afterwards, I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping, I cried a lot, I was exhausted, I couldn't cope with simple tasks. These days I am doing all those things. (I'm still exhausted and should probably speak to the doc about that, but hey, that's working/teaching motherhood for you!)
In lots of mental ways, I'd have to say yes. I can think beyond the next two minutes. I am not in fear of what the next police car in my layby will be. I don't have to have my son within sight perpetually incase something happens to him. I am able to section that part of my life off, gift wrap it with happy memories, and then open a new section where I can love again, (and I do!) and live again and trust again and risk again.
Yesterday was tricky in some ways, because I had to face the fact that it was 1000 days since he kissed me goodbye. I had my FB friends, and my twitter peeps, (@Madyline) and real life people, and I got through. I didn't tell the AC because he doesn't need to remember the focus being on the numbers, on the death, he needs to focus on the memories, when he remembers it needs to be in a good way, and he does.
1000 days.
It's a long time.
